Davis tears ACL again, out for season

whats this about Connor not getting a chance?

 

Really, really shitty. I think we were all excited to see what he and Beason could do together as he seemed to take that step further.

Not a huge fan of moving Beason to WLB. He's a stud in the middle. Just not sure he'll have the same impact at the will. Anderson did have a couple good games towards the end of the season. I just hope this isn't us trying to shove a square peg in a round hole, like we did in Beason's rookie season when we put Anderson at MLB. Beason at MLB is one of the best in the league.

 

i thought as soon as Morgan went down they slid Beason to MLB in his rookie season.

not the best of all worlds but it makes sense. Connor looks like he can be a solid MLB but doesn't have the speed to play WLB. Beason played well there though MLB is also his best position. so i think it makes sense given the circumstances ... gets the best LBs we have all on the field.

 

the next practice they did, Anderson closed out the actual game.

That's the best LBs but bad actual positions: The best lineup is Anderson at WLB, Beason staying in the middle (both from an athleticism and stability standpoint) and Connor at SLB, but it looks like we won't do that.

 

Beason is our best linebacker, even better than Davis. If WLB is the position that makes the most plays in this defense then maybe he should slide to WLB and put Connor at MLB.

At least we have some options.

 

From ESPN Insider. Nothing much new just passing it on.

Carolina Panthers
The loss of Thomas Davis (knee) for the season is brutal. I was extremely high on Davis before his series of major knee injuries. He was ready to explode onto the scene as one of the premier 4-3 outside linebackers. But football is a rough sport and injuries happen, so discussing Davis further is a rather moot point.

The acquisition of Jamar Williams was extremely timely and he will make the loss more bearable. Williams didn't play a ton of snaps for the Chicago Bears, as Lance Briggs is entrenched on the weak side in Chicago. When Williams did get on the field, he played exceptionally well. As much as I like Davis, the drop-off might not be massive.

The other option on the weak side is to move superstar MLB Jon Beason to that spot. Beason is one of the top middle linebackers in the game today and very adept at making all the defensive calls and adjustments. Surely he could handle those responsibilities from the weak side. With Williams now in the fold, I would be in favor of leaving Beason in the middle. Beason did begin his career on the weak side while Dan Morgan manned the middle for Carolina. But playing the vast majority of his time in the middle, Beason has accumulated a whopping 420 tackles in his three NFL seasons. He is an elite football player.

If Beason were to move outside, that would open up the middle for Dan Connor. An instinctive player, Connor is a good tackler and always around the ball. To me, this comes down to who is the better player: Connor or Williams? Give me Williams, but that doesn't mean that Connor has to stand on the sidelines holding his helmet all game, either.

Injuries hampered Connor's early development in the NFL, but there is still hope for him to develop into a very solid all-around player like he was at Penn State. However, he is a bit of a tweener in that he isn't a great take-on player and isn't a superb athletic specimen, which also limits his ceiling.

James Anderson is the early favorite for the strong side. He did little of consequence last season and overall is a very average player. Obviously, the Panthers knew this when they used a fourth-round pick on Eric Norwood. It might not be immediate, but Norwood is going to unseat Anderson. He is built for this position with a James Harrison -like body type and brings more big-play ability to the fold than Anderson, especially from a pass-rushing standpoint. Connor probably could handle the strong side, as well.

Overall, this isn't a bad group. It worries me a great deal that Carolina might just have the worst set of defensive tackles in the league and that there is much uncertainty along the entire defensive line. But considering that they just lost a player of Davis' status, the Panthers could be much worse off than they are at linebacker.

 

Good stuff on the LB situation... didn't know we had maybe the worst set of DTs in the league

I don't think we're elite at DT, but solid...

I can see the team moving Beason around in rotations to get guys on the field to play where they're most effective... Like what they're saying on Williams and Norwood

 

I think we have nothing but question marks at DT. We have no proven guys there.

 

Sort of like Quarterback

 

There is someone on the Eagles that tore up his ACL or achilles for the third year in a row. Forget the name of the player though.